Four friends lost their lives, and two sustained serious injuries in an accident reported on the Mumbai-Goa Highway near the Veer Railway station during the early hours of Friday. Eight friends from Mahad were going towards Lonere in a scorpio jeep for having late night coffee when the accident happened.
The owner of the vehicle, Prasad Raghunath Natekar (25) realised after reaching near Veer Railway station that the vehicle had ran out of diesel and stopped mid-way at the road side. At around 12.30 am, while the vehicle was stalled, a towing van coming from Goa with a BMW car on it, to be delivered to Mumbai, dashed onto the stalled scorpio. The impact of the collision was such that the Scorpio jeep flung 50 feet away.
The crushed Scorpio jeep |
The towing van |
“The complainant and the eye witness in the case Arya Mahadkar,19, had stepped out of the jeep and was on a call when the accident happened and hence was saved,” Additional Superintendent of Police Abhijeet Shivthare, Raigad, said. The front side of the towing van was damaged in the accident while the BMW on the van was safe. “The eight friend who was there in the jeep had gone away to fetch diesel and hence he was not there while the accident happened,” police inspector Santosh Jadhav from Mahad taluka police station said.
The deceased have been identified as Suryakant Sakharam More (27) a resident of Navenagar in Mahad, Sahil alias Ritik Nathuram Shelar (25) from Kumbharali in Mahad, the owner of the jeep Natekar (25) from Navenagar and Sameer Sudhir Minde (35) from Das gaon in Mahad Taluka. Menwhile, those injured have been identified as Shubham Rajendra Matal (27) from SHirgaon in MAhad and Suraj Ashok Nalawade (34) from Chambharkhind at Mahad
Of the injured, Nalawade is reported to be serious and is undergoing treatment at MGM Hospital in Kamothe. The driver of the towing van, identified as Suyog Sahrabudhe (29) has been arrested by Mahad Taluka police for rash and reckless driving.
